My Sweet Demise
by myheartscontent
Summary: Crazy ex's, one-night stands, and oodles and oodles of dramarama. "It's like a fairy tale, but without the happily ever after. The tabloids are gonna be all over you two." KAKATEN. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**heartbeat: **Hello, everyonee! I've been lurking around FF dot net for quite a while and I noticed how depressingly few stories of KakaTen there are. NejiTen is still my numberone but I wanted to try my hand at KakaTen, as I seem to like them a little more than I should. XD

The first chapter is shortish. More to come later if you all want more.

~myheartscontent

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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**MY SWEET DEMISE  
**Act 1  
_~coffee~_

_"I'm socially retarded."  
_

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The late morning sunlight streamed through the crack between the two curtains, illuminating the dust that danced and swirled about the room like feathers on a zephyr. She knew it was about time to wake him up but a part of her refused, choosing to remain in this tranquil peace of mind for the time being.

Tenten rolled over and smiled fondly at the man she lay naked in bed with. He looked so serene when he slept, the complete opposite of what he was when he was awake. His piercing, white eyes could make even the most confident of men cower in fear and his ego was perhaps the biggest in all of Konoha.

_Still_, she thought as she laid a hand on his chest and drew lazy circles with her fingers, _any girl in their right mind would kill to be me._

He stirred and she removed her hand quickly. His eyes opened and they blinked sleepily at her before adjusting. "What time is it?"

"Time to get up, Neji," Tenten said in a stern voice, standing up and wrapping a silken robe around her bare body. "You have a press conference this afternoon."

He growled and threw the blankets off himself rather violently, climbing out of bed. "Damn, woman, can't you let me sleep for a little longer?"

"No, it's my job to take care of you." Tenten picked up a pair of Kalvin Clein boxer and held it out to Neji. "You promised the spokesperson you'd wear these?"

"Why? It's not like anyone will be able to see them." But Neji snatched it from her anyway.

Tenten twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "You feel better, Neji?"

"I always do." He smirked. "I'm going to take a shower. You stay here."

Tenten smoothed her hair primly. "Of course."

After Neji had locked himself in the bathroom, Tenten began looking for her clothes, finding her panties almost on the other side of the room. She folded them and stacked them on the bed in a neat pile.

Her phone rang and she made quite a mess trying to look for it but found it eventually underneath Neji's shirt.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Tenten."

She felt her heart drop at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "Hey."

"Where are you right now?"

Tenten bit her lip and looked around Neji's penthouse, debating whether to answer truthfully or not. She decided to try her luck. "I'm at home."

"No, you're not. You're lying. You're at Neji's, aren't you?"

She cursed quietly, hating how he always knew. "So what if I am?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone and then Sasuke took a deep breath. "I thought this was going to stop, this…sleeping around with Neji."

"And we all thought Neji was going to stop having depressingly short and painful relationships, too," Tenten countered. "Funny how these things work out."

"You can't sleep with him every time he and his one-day girlfriend break up," he pointed out.

"I am his agent," she reminded him. "It's my job to attend to him, make sure he's happy."

"No, you're supposed to book his events, fetch him coffee if he needs some, and yell at people when he doesn't feel like it. Sleeping with him was not in the job description."

"Sasuke, I know you mean well and you're just trying to be a good friend, but honestly, I am a big girl. I can take care of myself." Tenten smiled reassuringly but quickly stopped once she remembered he couldn't see her.

"Just think of how many STDs you must have," Sasuke said. "It's not healthy."

"I told you already: it's fine," she insisted. "Neji's-"

"I'm what?"

Tenten looked up to see Neji standing in the bathroom door, his hair wet and a towel wrapped around his waist. She cursed again and whispered into the phone, "I have to go. I'll call you later." Snapping the phone shut, she turned to face a skeptical Neji with a smile of mock innocence.

"You're amazing, Neji, absolutely amazing," she singsonged.

He did not look convinced. "Who were you talking to?"

"Doesn't matter," Tenten said quickly.

Neji furrowed his eyebrows disbelievingly.

"Seriously, you have nothing to worry about," she insisted, grabbing a towel from the closet and running into the bathroom.

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Kakashi looked up from his book at the knock on his door and sighed, reluctantly marking his page. "Come in," he called.

The door opened and Shizune marched in, carrying a thin folder and looking very intimidating indeed. She strode across the office, her pointed heels clicking against the mahogany floor, and took a piece of paper out of the folder, slamming it onto Kakashi's desk forcefully.

She waited as he studied the photograph. "Well?"

He looked up at her questioningly. "Well…what?"

Shizune rolled her eyes and pointed at the man standing to the far left. "Him, do you recognize him?"

Kakashi squinted. "He looks familiar."

"It's Neji, Hyuuga Neji," she told him.

"Neji?" Kakashi echoed.

"Yes, Hyuuga Neji, one of our models – he's the one modeling for that new clothing line," Shizune explain rather impatiently. "Really, as president of Shinobi Entertainment, you know very little about your employees."

"I guess I do." He did not look at her; he was busying trying to be subtle as his hand slowly inched towards his book.

Shizune's sharp eyes, however, caught it and she grabbed the book before his fingers could skim its binding. "You do know there's a press conference today regarding Neji-san and the new Kalvin Clein clothing line, right?"

"You don't say." Kakashi's eyes were glued to the book.

"You should go."

"I can't."

She shook her head. "Let me rephrase that: You're going whether you want to or not."

"Is that really necessary?"

"It is." Shizune waved the book around in a hypnotizing pattern as she continued to speak. "You are president of one of the biggest entertainment companies in the country. And yet, you never attend any of the actors' premiers or the singers' concerts or the dancers' recitals or the models' photo shoots. You rarely attend press conferences and never answer any questions that the general public has a right to know the answers to."

Kakashi looked solemn. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," she contradicted at once and he grinned sheepishly. "I know you'd rather stay holed up in your office all day reading that dirty book."

"It's a masterpiece. But I wouldn't expect you to appreciate it," he sighed in mock melancholy.

"Because I prefer the real thing," Shizune answered drily, "and you should, too. Anyway, what I'm saying is that you have to let our entertainers know that you support them and you have to let the general public know that you're different than the other company presidents who force their employees to sign unfair contracts that bind them to decades of minimal payment and slave labor. Those presidents don't give a damn about their entertainers but we're different.

"You need to step up and talk to your employees, get to know them, befriend them, establish lasting relationships with them. You can't spend your life in this office, Kakashi," Shizune told him sternly.

"I'm socially retarded," he said matter-of-factly.

She scoffed. "I highly doubt it. You just don't _want_ to make new friends, create new bonds."

He nodded affably. "That's very likely."

Shizune spent a few moments studying him and he looked back at her unblinkingly. "I think I've figured out the problem. You need a girlfriend."

"I have an ex," he said.

"Yeah, but you need a _real_ girlfriend, not one that just dated you to gain publicity," she explained.

"One step at a time, Shizune. But I'll go to the press conference. Just give me my book back." Kakashi held out his hand and smiled as pleasantly as he could.

She hesitated and slapped the book into his grasp, refusing to chuckle at the sight of his gleeful face. "Be ready at one."

Before Shizune was even out the door, Kakashi had opened his book to the dog-eared page and continued his reading.

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The press conference was held in Hokage Theatre, an upscale, luxurious theater in downtown Konoha that hosted topnotch performances every week and could accommodate up to fifteen hundred audience members.

Neji and Tenten were quickly ushered backstage and into a dressing room where a whole team of make-up artists and designers worked on Neji.

Tenten stood to the side for a while before deciding to have a look around. Promising Neji she would be back soon, she ducked out of the dressing room and into the bustling halls of backstage.

A long table had been set up on the stage and hundreds of reporters, fans, and fashion enthusiasts were seated in the arena, chattering amongst themselves excitedly. The CEO of Kalvin Clein, a rather rotund man with a pleasant face sporting an expensively tailored suit, was chatting with the head journalist of the _Konoha Times_.

Tenten decided it was simply too crowded in the theater and she escaped into the front lobby, where fans and reporters were still trickling in. Deciding that she needed to be away from the crowd, she ducked down an empty hallway that lead to the practice rooms and the office.

As she rounded the corner, Tenten stopped in her tracks, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of her.

Ino detached herself from Shikamaru's mouth and smiled widely. "Hi, Ten-chan!"

Tenten nodded slowly.

Shikamaru glared at her, keeping his hands on Ino's waist, and told Tenten to leave with his eyes.

"Right, sorry to disturb you two," Tenten muttered, shooting her own dark looks at Shikamaru. "I'll see you later."

"You're coming to my photo shoot later, right?" Ino called as Tenten turned to leave. "Shika-kun's going to be the photographer!"

"Uh, yeah…" Tenten scratched her head. "I'll leave you two, then."

_That's what you get for wandering off_, she scolded herself as she emerged into the lobby. It was empty now and the chatter from the theater had ceased, meaning that the press conference must have already started or was going to begin very soon.

"Tenten-san!"

She turned around and smiled at an unfamiliar stage crew member. "Hello, can I help you with something?"

"You're Tenten-san, right? Neji's agent? Great," she continued without waiting for an answer. "He asked for coffee but I was too busy to find the time to deliver it. Could you give it to him?"

Tenten nodded and took the cup of coffee but frowned. "It's not even hot."

"Like I said, I was busy." The stage crew member began walking away. "Make sure he gets it."

Frowning, Tenten spun around and crashed into something, a warm, very strong, muscular something, spilling coffee all over it. She scrambled away and bowed immediately, coming to stare at a pair of classy leather shoes.

She straightened up and looked at the person, recognizing him.

"Moushiwake gozaimasen, Kakashi-sama!"

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**heartbeat: **Okay, that was pretty short but I'm just giving you all a taste for noww. I'll upload the next chapter in a few days.

I feel like Kakashi is a bit OOC. What do you think?

Please remember to review! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**heartbeat: **Hello, my wonderful readers, I bring gifts in the form of a new chapter! A chapter longer than the last!

Please enjoyy and don't forget to review!

~myheartscontent

**disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

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**MY SWEET DEMISE**  
Act 2  
_~uncomfortable~_

_"I won't assume you're still a virgin"_

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Kakashi looked down at his white shirt, watching as the coffee stained the previously-pristine fabric.

"Oh, my God," Tenten breathed, suddenly frozen. "I am…I am so sorry." A knot in her stomach tightened as she envisioned all of the horrible things her boss could do to her and Neji. He could fire them both, of course. That was definitely in the realm of possibility.

She hoped he wouldn't yell. It would most likely draw the attention of the press and the last thing she needed was her picture ending up on some national newspaper, announcing to everyone that she was a stupid, clumsy, butterfingered idiot.

Tenten watched with bated breath as Kakashi studied the stain and she braced herself for the worst. As he opened his mouth to speak, it took every ounce of self-control not to run away.

"Well," Kakashi said thoughtfully, as if admiring a piece of art, "I was expecting the coffee to be scalding."

"Oh!" She silently chastised herself for being so meek and fought to keep and calm, respected veneer. "It must have cooled off. The assistant…she said she had it with her for a while before she gave it to me."

"And here I thought I had acquired a superhuman ability to withstand pain."

His eyes smiled and Tenten was skeptical, sure that he was mocking her. She prepared a tart response but stopped herself, remembering that he was her boss. "I'm afraid not, sir. Is there…anything I can get you? I really am sorry."

"Another shirt would be nice," Kakashi stated, "but I don't expect you to have one with you."

She thought of Neji's dressing room. He couldn't deny helping out his boss. "I…I have access to one."

"Do you really?" He sounded intrigued. Tenten couldn't tell whether it was sincere or just out of politeness.

"Yes, I'm Hyuuga Neji's manager," she explained, beginning to head off in the direction of his dressing room. "I think he may have an extra shirt lying around. The designers always prepare too much clothes."

Kakashi followed her down a few hallways. "Is it tough?"

Tenten reached for the doorknob. "What?"

"Being Hyuuga Neji's manager," he elaborated.

"No, he really isn't as bad as everyone thinks," she laughed lightly, flinging the door open to reveal that it was, indeed, empty.

"He seems like a difficult person to manage. I'm sure you have many ways to keep him satisfied," Kakashi said, unaware of his statement's double meaning.

Tenten bit her lip as she flipped through a clothing rack. "I do have a few but I love being his manager." She smiled triumphantly upon finding an almost identical white shirt, oblivious of Kakashi's frown, and presented it to him. "Found one."

"I see." He took it.

"And you know, I'll just step out for a-" Tenten's eyes widened as Kakashi unbuttoned his dirty shirt and tossed it onto the couch, revealing his toned chest. "Um…" She was at a loss for words.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes and smiled crookedly as he shook out Neji's shirt. "What?"

"Nothing," she snapped, telling herself to avert her eyes and turn around but finding herself unable – or maybe unwilling – to do so. "I'm just a tad bit uncomfortable."

"I _am_ your boss so I won't assume it's something personal." He slipped on Neji's shirt and buttoned it, his broad shoulders a bit _too_ broad for the confines of the shirt. "Nor will I assume that you are still a virgin."

"I'm not. I've had sex before," she said slowly, realizing the oddity of conversing about sex with her boss.

He smiled knowingly. "Of course. Now, I promise I'll take excellent care of Neji-san's shirt. I'll wear it, wash it, and return it as soon as possible." Kakashi bowed and headed for the door but stopped halfway out. "By the way, can I have your number?"

Tenten knew she couldn't refuse her boss and gave him her number.

"I'll call you when I'm free," he promised, giving her a casual wave.

"To drop off the shirt?"

He smirked. "And then some."

Barely a minute after Kakashi left, Neji stormed in, frowning. "Tenten."

She looked up. "What?"

"Who was in here?" he demanded, gesturing around the room.

Tenten pursed her lips. "Shouldn't you be at the press conference?"

Neji shook his head. "Don't change the subject. Who was in here? I saw some man leave as I rounded the corner…"

"It's a bad idea to be suspicious of your boss, Neji," she teased.

"Boss," he repeated, "my boss."

"And my boss, too. I'm not going to get involved with Kakashi-sama," Tenten insisted sincerely. "Too much drama and shit…"

He gave her an unreadable look before walking out the door. "Come on, I want you backstage during the press conference," Neji called over his shoulder.

Tenten ran after him. "I'll have coffee waiting for you."

"Mmhmm, damn stage crew never gave me my coffee when I asked for it."

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Tenten remained hidden behind the large, red velvet curtain that shielded the backstage from the audience's eyes. On stage, Neji sat between the spokesperson and another model, smiling wearily and nodding every so often as people talked, people clapped and cameras flashed. Every now and then, he would look over at her and she would give him an encouraging smile.

"Hey, sorry you had to see that."

She jumped and whirled around to see Ino, smiling nervously and fiddling with a lock of her hair. "Oh, hey. Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"No, it's not," Ino went on, lowering her voice as people rushed past them backstage. "I promised I'd meet you here before the press conference but then Shikamaru showed up and said that Kakashi-sama wanted him to document the press conference – Shikamaru never tells me anything ahead of time – and then we went off by ourselves and, I don't know, things started heating up and-"

Tenten held up a hand to stop her friend, making a disgusted face. "Enough, I don't need to hear about your dirty, dirty sex life."

Ino rolled her eyes good-naturedly and patted Tenten on the shoulder. "I know you don't like him much…"

"Understatement," Tenten muttered.

"But I _do_," Ino continued as if she hadn't heard her friend. "Can't you at least _try_ to get to know him? He means a lot to me."

"He doesn't like me either," Tenten pointed out.

"I know you two would be good friends if you would at least try," Ino insisted.

Tenten scoffed. "You're crazy. You're crazy because you're dating the help."

"I'm friends with the help, too," Ino reminded her. "You are the help. You and him are on the same level. You're both making me crazy."

Tenten sighed and massaged her temple. "Okay, fine, because you're my best friend, I'll get to know your lazy-ass boyfriend better."

"Great!" Ino clasped her hands together excitedly. "He's sitting in the first row, towards the right, next to that paunchy reporter," she whispered, pointing. They watched as Shikamaru paused, looked directly at Ino, and gave her a nod. Ino waved flirtatiously and nudged Tenten. "Wave," she commanded.

Shikamaru looked rather stunned at Tenten's wave – a listless, unenthusiastic wave – and he twitched his hand in response, a poor excuse for a wave.

"Ah, Ten-chan, I'm so proud of you," Ino declared. "Thank you. This means a lot to me. To know that you both can put your differences aside and come together as one happy family because of me and my amazing persuasion and faculty for being a people's person and compassion and because I'm a good friend…I'm a good friend, and you're a good friend. We're all good friends-"

"Ino, you're rambling again," Tenten said quietly.

"Right." Ino took a deep breath and beamed. "I should get going. The press conference is ending and I promised Shika-kun I'd meet him afterwards."

"Shika-kun, eh?" Tenten smirked. "I'm gonna use that one on him next time I see him."

"You wouldn't dare." Ino stuck out her tongue childishly and waved good-bye.

Tenten lingered backstage as the theatre slowly emptied out and reporters squeezed in a few final questions before being ushered out of the way by security. Ino had found her way by Shikamaru's side as he positioned the models, the CEO, and the spokesperson in front of the table to take their picture.

Noticing that the theatre had already emptied, Tenten walked over to the edge of the stage and crossed her arms, observing Neji's picture pose. His arms hung loosely at his side and his head was tilted slightly to the right. She noticed, however, that his shoulders were tensed and knew that he was uncomfortable.

As they finished up, Tenten heard someone call her name and she turned, expecting it to be Neji. But when she turned around and saw Kakashi, she took a step back in surprise, forgetting that she was standing at the edge of the stage. For a split second, her heart stopped when she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet.

And then she dropped and hit the ground and everything went black.

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The first thing she saw through her bleary eyes was whiteness, faded whiteness blotched with bits and pieces of grey, like a worn-and-weary white shirt or snow at the end of winter. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of black silk and thought of raven wings.

When she came into focus, Tenten realized that the whiteness had been the bare walls of a hospital room and its furniture and its various bleeping machines. Her forehead was cold and when she moved her hand to touch whatever freezing object was sitting on her head, she found a tube protruding from her arm.

"Tenten!"

Ino's face suddenly appeared in her vision. "Oh, my god, you're awake!"

Tenten blinked a few times before realizing that Ino had been holding an ice pack to her head. "What happened?" Tenten mumbled.

"You fell and totally blacked out. Kakashi-sama called an ambulance but had to go take care of something so me, Shikamaru, and Neji came with the ambulance." Ino jerked her thumb over her shoulder to where Neji was sleeping on the couch. "He was worried. It was sweet."

"Really…"

Ino nodded vigorously. "He finally fell asleep early this morning."

"How long have I been out?"

"Well, you fell around two o'clock yesterday and it's about ten o'clock right now so about…" Ino frowned and tried to work out the math.

"Almost a day…twenty hours," Neji called from the couch, getting up.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Tenten asked, looking around.

"In the cafeteria getting food," Neji said before Ino could.

Ino handed the icepack to Neji. "You know what? I'll go join him. Do you want anything, Neji?" Neji shook his head and Ino left.

Tenten was quiet as Neji repositioned the icepack. "What's the ice for?"

"To keep the swelling down," he explained.

"Am I going to die?" she inquired bluntly.

He shook his head. "Shut up. Don't talk like that. It's ridiculous."

She laughed. "You were worried, weren't you?"

"Only because if you died, I wouldn't have a sexy agent anymore," Neji replied with a straight face but Tenten knew he was teasing her.

She sighed and looked at the ceiling. "What's with the icepack?"

"The doctor you said that you experienced very minor head trauma and that everything would be fine but that we should ice your head for a little while to inhibit any swelling. He gave you some acetaminophen to help with headaches but you'll be fine," Neji explained.

"I'm tough," Tenten declared happily.

"You are," he agreed.

And he kissed her.

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Tenten lay awake that night, alert in such unfamiliar hospital surroundings. Neji was sleeping on the couch once again, refusing her insisting that he go home and sleep in a real bed. Ino and Shikamaru had left a few hours earlier, promising to return in the morning when she was discharged.

Sasuke had called her that afternoon to check on her and warned her not to have sex with Neji while in the hospital lest the nurses deny her medical treatment for inappropriate behavior. Tenten had laughed but ended the call quickly after when she caught Neji glaring.

She had been surprised, stunned, when Neji had admitted he had been worried about her. It wasn't like him to show emotion or confess his feelings but when he did, it made her feel warm inside, made her heart flutter delicately.

It was stupid, really, how she was acting, feeling.

_Love is too strong of a word._

She could still hear the nurses outside of her room gossiping about some neurosurgeon and his affairs with one of the interns and the sudden appearance of his estranged wife. Tenten listened with interest. It reminded her of some television show, perhaps a soap opera.

The chattering outside the door quickly died as she heard a pair of loud footsteps stop outside her door.

"Sir, can I help you?" one of the nurses called.

"I'm here to see Tenten," responded a familiar voice.

And despite the protests of the nurses, the door swung open and light filtered into Tenten's dark room, giving Kakashi's face a strange glow.

"Did I wake you?" he asked, closing the door.

Tenten shook her head. "No, but be careful you don't wake him up." She pointed at Neji's sleeping form but knew she had nothing to worry about; he was a deep sleeper. "I don't think he'd be too-"

"Happy to see me visiting you?" Kakashi finished for her when she stopped talking, worried that what she was going to say next would offend him.

"No, of course not," she protested quickly. "He's just…really cranky when disturbed from his sleep." Well, that was true enough, although she did not mention that Neji was perpetually cranky.

Kakashi smiled amusedly and pulled a chair to her bedside. Tenten froze and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I'm sorry I didn't come to check on you sooner. I was busy."

"You didn't have to," she reminded him. "It's not like I was dying."

"I was feeling guilty, you know," he said suddenly. "I called out your name to tell you that Neji's car was here but I guess I must have startled you. You fell off the edge of the stage."

"And you called the ambulance." Tenten bit her lip. "Thank you. And I'm sorry about this. I'm sure you're very busy during the day and relish any extra minutes of sleep that you can manage to get."

"Actually, I won't be able to sleep tonight," Kakashi admitted. "Shizune has my…ah, book and won't give it back. I can't sleep without the book."

"Is your girlfriend named Shizune?" she asked innocently, wondering if her curiosity was a bad sign.

Kakashi winced and then laughed shortly. "Oh, god, no, she's my secretary, personal assistant, whatever you want to call it. We're good friends but she's brutal."

"What did you do to have her take your book?" Tenten looked at him suspiciously.

"It was a persuasive tactic on her part to convince me to attend the press conference," he explained.

"Needless to say, it worked rather well," she joked, stifling a yawn.

But Kakashi caught it and stood up. "I shouldn't keep you up. You're tired. I'll leave now. Goodbye, Tenten."

Before she could protest, he had smiled and closed the door on his way out. Tenten found herself pouting and disappointed and she waved at the door dejectedly.

"Goodbye, Kakashi-sama."

* * *

**heartbeat: **And there you have it. Chapter 2.

I still think Kakashi's OOC; I haven't quite mastered him just yet. Any tips or suggestions would be wonderful. :)

Oh! And if anyone can tell me which TV show I'm referring to ("neurosurgeon and his affairs...etc"), you get a cookie. XD

Don't forget to review and let me know what you thought!


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